Everything I have said about Fall of Cybertron holds true for this one. It's a surprisingly fun 3rd person action adventure romp. It has 3rd person shooting sections and some driving too. Even as a non-transformers fan, I was drawn into this one and feel that with all the characters and story cutscenes, it would be even more appealing to fans of the series. It's difficult to separate the two games in terms of how enjoyable they are. They both have nice short and simple levels with some great action sequences which add a bit of variety to the gameplay. The voice acting and story is great and you can tell a lot of effort has been put into both games. I'd put this one slightly behind Fall of Cybertron as, while it is a very similar game, I found the environment in this game slightly blander and more gray. That being said, it's a great game in its own right and well worth picking up.

High Moon Studios have a knack for making decent 3rd person licensed games on the console, with the fun Transformers games and the silly Deadpool game. This was their first effort on the 360 and it really feels like a clunky younger brother to the Cybertron duo. The game follows the story of the movie, presenting it over around 12 levels with some nice cutscenes throughout. Game play wise it is a nice mix of 3rd person cover shooting and first person hand to hand combat. You also have an adrenaline meter which, when full, lets you pull of a finishing move, either shooting or hand to hand combat, which leads to an instant kill. I enjoyed my time with the game, but the experience was dragged down by some flaws and poor design choices. For example, the game is predominantly a cover based 3rd person shooter, but it struggles to implement the movement into or out of cover, which is really down to the controls. The gunplay itself is good and aiming works fine. The levels are designed with this cover in mind, full of things to hide behind. The issue is that you don't really know which you can use as cover. I found myself running up to objects and then awkwardly standing around getting shot as my characters refused to hide behind whatever it was. It's little issues like this that feel a bit amateur and really highlights that this was one of HMS's first games. The reliance on quick time events was another frustration. When you are not headshotting bad guys, you are punching them in the face in a 1 on 1 fighting game style combat section. This was a nice change of pace from the many third person brawlers on the console, but it can get a bit stale as you basically mash x and y in between blocking. Because of this, the inclusion of random QTEs during these fights was a very weird design choice as you really don't have time to react in the middle of a mash X combo. These issues don't ruin the game, it is still a lot of fun to play and the short campaign doesn't overstay its welcome. I really enjoyed jumping around the globe visiting a variety of different areas, and the few driving sections were a nice distraction. However, it must definitely is a flawed game, clunky and full of strange issues and design choices. If you can get past these, you will have fun with it, but don't expect a polished experience.

Super fun game, possibly my favorite in the series.

I really liked the battle gameplay improvements over Yakuza LaD, guard-breaking and weaknesses are so much easier to understand, the proximity/AoE-based attacks help make the battles feel more dynamic.

Storywise it's a lot more of what you can expect but the Hawaii setting made this game feel refreshing.

The new jobs and skill inheritance system are very fun to play around with.

Now I know what you are thinking. I gave this game 5 stars. But hear me out first. I get it for something that has the Final Fight name, its awful. However, if you have that rare ability to put that aside, you will find something fun and insane here. Not to mention funny and campy as hell. Almost consider it parody of the Yakuza style game just with a western setting.

No kidding, on one mission you are beating the shit out of thugs and then comes another where you wager against a random grandma at a game of darts lol

The combat in streetwise isn't too bad, it has the necessary umph factor that makes beat em' ups fun. The inclusion of a parry is cool except that it has a real tight window but when you land it it feels great. The instinct meter can also be used to parry. You buy moves and upgrades so collecting cash is essential. You could just do the main missions but I highly encourage you to do the side missions just to see how wacky they get.

Soundtrack is quite solid, some good jams. They use licensed music from rap and metal artist (mostly rap) but they are pretty good picks. There are some original tunes as well like the main town themes.

Some people consider streetwise to be a spiritual sequel to BeatDown: Fist of Vengeance, also by Capcom and yes I definitely see that.

RE4 is a game I hold near dear to my heart. While not being my personal favorite RE it is one that I hold the most memories with. Its the first video game where my father grew insanely addicted to just off the strength of watching me playing the first 5 minutes of it on the gamecube. After those 5 minutes he asked to play a bit and the rest was history my dad turned into a huge RE4 fan. Its my first memory as a kid where I rented a game from blockbuster where my dad grew interest right away and its stuff like that I hold near dear to my heart. So with that being said yes the original RE4 is something VERY special to me on many levels having played through 5+ releases of it.

Now when RE4R was announced yes I will admit I was a bit worried after the misstep of RE3R but I held out until we got more info on the game. The moment they said they would be keeping most of the content in the game I honestly knew this was going to be a masterpiece because if there was one thing they have perfected with these remakes WAS the gameplay and it really shows with RE4R.

I told my story with original RE4 about my dad growing addicted to that game because as expected RE4R turned into a whole family event. My WHOLE family wanted to watch this game because they grew to love this game to the point of wanting to watch me play through the whole remake which is something that rarely happens with my family lol. And lord was it a blast having my dad remember every single thing with this game still even after so long it honestly shows just how much of an impact RE4 had on him. Sadly he didn't want to play any of it though as he doesn't enjoy newer gen controllers and doesn't really want to try learning how to play on newer controllers which is fine I was A okay with playing through the whole game myself this time having him and the rest of my family watch.

So what did we get? a perfect experience. This game right from the start amazed me with how well they handheld the original material but improving on some aspects of it. The first and most obvious is the gameplay where they use the 2-3 remake formula gameplay wise with RE4R and it just works so well the gameplay is phenomenal and weirdly addicting to a degree its very fun to control, shoot and Supplex enemies hahaha. The knife is a life saver in this game! you can still do the normal box cutting , enemy slicing but there has been one immense change with the knife which is parrying!. If you time it correctly you can fully parry enemy attacks which is HUGE and probably will be even more helpful on the harder difficulties.

The other thing that really caught me by surprise is how well directed this game was in terms of story it really brings so much more life to the story of 4. I will get this right out the gate the characters are written so well and hell Ashley is WAYYYY better in the remake then in OG4 she is cheerful , wholesome , NOT ANNOYING AND MOST IMPORTANTLY DOES NOT HAVE A DAMN HEALTH BAR. I was overall very pleased with how they wrote Ashely in this game and honestly everyone else it brought new life into this game and was very welcomed.

Now SOME content was cut but nothing to crucial that really hindered the game in anyway. The only thing I was bummed was cut was the U3 boss fight I honestly really liked that fight in the OG4 it was creepy. Overall everything important was still intact and even touched upon to make better for the remake like a couple boss fights which I won't get into here.

Shooting range was also a blast and I had a good time S ranking all the levels on it. I will probably not go for the 100% on them all as attempting that on controller ...... is not a fun time lol.

Graphics were beautiful I really love how the RE engine looks and it continues to impress me with every new title.

I seriously do not have a single complaint with this game I really wholeheartedly believe its a perfect experience and one that I will replay multiple times to go for some of the harder trophies.

RE4 is considered one of the best games made for a reason and RE4R continues that legacy and then some.

This comes without shock but this game is a MUST play and I can recommend it for the full price. Me and my whole family were very happy with this game and seeing my dad smile and having a good time alone makes this game perfect to me.

Wanted to play a nice short game after Metroid Prime 2 so I decided to dive into the Klonoa series finally! While I did have a good time with this game, I wish I liked it more because it has a 4.1 average and a lot of my followers love it so I kinda feel bad only giving it a 7 lol.

I think after beating the game, the absolute best aspect are the bosses tbh. I did not expect them to go so hard but most of them are really damn good tbh. In fact I'd go as far to say they're better than most of the levels. Something I really liked about them was how they all made good use of the foreground and background, thought that was sweet. Also the health bar they had looked really cool with that whole 3D effect.

The levels themselves are decent for the most part. They start off really simple but get more complex as you go on. I honestly didn't think they were getting really good until the last couple stages but overall they're fine.

Another one the best aspects of this game is the visuals. The mix of sprites and 3D models is always cool and its done well in this game. From the little I've seen of the remake, it's a total downgrade which is a shame so I'd recommend the original just on visuals alone.

Klonoa's moveset is kinda weird overall. The grab is very fun, especially when you can get an extra jump from an enemy. The flutter is alright but a lot of the time just doesn't cut it in getting you over large gaps unless you plan well. I just never thought it felt good to use tbh. Also Klonoa himself has a slipperiness to him when you build momentum up and that can trip up the player especially in later stages.

I didn't really find the game that hard until the last couple stages. I got every collectable so I was able to do the extra stage and man was that one tough. It was fun but definitely put your grabbing and hovering skills to the test.

The music overall was just alright. There was a track or two I kinda liked but most of them were forgettable I felt. There was also a track or two that kinda bugged me because it reminded me of the intro song to Amazing Animals. Please tell me I'm not crazy, I just kept thinking about that whenever one of the beginning stages songs was playing.

The game also had a surprisingly abundant amount of cutscenes. I thought the story overall was pretty cute, the very solid voice acting certainly helped that I feel. Like damn, I loved Huepow's voice it was adorable. And while I didn't cry or anything, the ending was pretty sad and was a unique way to end the game.

While I didn't love this game like others do, it was pretty good! I can certainly see how others would love this game cuz it just has that 90's PS1 charm. I did hear the sequel is even better so I'm looking forward to that!

I started Chrono Trigger a couple days ago but decided I'd also play a short game here and there on the side as to mix things up. The first ones of these I decided to play was Jumping Flash and I gotta say, it was a really nice time.

This is one of if not the first 3D platformer to come out (I dont think its actually the first) and the way it goes about being an early 3D platformer works wonders. The game is a first-person 3D platformer which is already kinda unique. Whenever you double jump tho, the camera changes to look directly below you and for a game like this where you're mostly jumping on floating platforms and your jumps are crazy high, it really does work well.

The game's also pretty atmospheric with its early 3D goodness. It has a sort of liminal space feel in certain levels and its really neat. The OST is also surprisingly good. I can't remember a single song on the top of my head rn but the whole game had some groovy tunes.

The bosses for the most part are decent. They would have been better with a strafe as without it, you're mostly just messily jumping on their heads but for the most part they're passable. The doom-like levels also weren't my favorite because again, no strafe. They felt awkward without one unlike the regular levels.

The game also has several different sets of extra remixed stages but I didn't play them. They just seem to be harder and you move faster and have 5 jumps instead of 3 but other than that, from what I've seen the actual level layouts are the same.

Yeah this was a fun time man, definitely a lot better than you'd expect for such an early 3D platformer! Also is it bad to say I think I unironically liked this more than Mario Wonder? Lol

I know this is a little late now but Merry Christmas everyone! I would've put this review out on Christmas but I was busy and also timed my playthrough of this game a bit wrong. Either way, hope everyone had a great holiday! I definitely did and it also ended with a bang since I played Rez.

I kinda don't have a lot to say about this one at all. The main takeaway is this game is an absolute treat visually. That's the main appeal of the game and I'm telling you, it's insane. You really just need to play it and witness it yourself cuz it's amazing and the biggest reason I'm rating it so high.

The OST is very good. I wouldn't listen to it outside of the game personally, but alongside the gameplay it's perfect and very much fits the game I think.

The actual gameplay is pretty simple actually. It's an on rails shooter that has a single powerup you can use when you obtain them and you level up and down depending on if you get hit or not. It's extremely straight-forward so it may be lacking to some people who would want a more complex game mechanically but for an audio-visual delight of a game like this, it's perfectly fine.

The game is also only like two hours long but tbh I think that's an absolute perfect length for a game like this, otherwise the wow factor might wear off if it was longer.

Like I said before, you really need to play the game yourself to see just how damn impressive the visuals are because...man they're absolutely insane. Another Dreamcast banger, this console's on fire so far!

8.5/10

With this being a sequel that released only one year after the first one, it makes sense it's basically just more of the same. That's not a bad thing because Jumping Flash! was fun, however the wow factor the first one had with it being one of the first 3D platformers goes away here, especially since Mario 64 came out two months after this and was something completely different. That's not to say everything in the game is the exact same.

There's now a jump meter that let's the player know how high they are into their jump and makes triple jumps easier to perform. There's now voice acting in the levels itself whenever you collect items. It's alright, it kinda makes the levels less atmospheric compared to the first one but it's cheesy fun. The cutscenes are also more abundant and definitely more entertaining so that was cool.

I think I do like the first one a bit more because the OST also wasn't as good in this one and it's just not as impactful since it's basically more of the same besides some additions. Either way though, just like the first one it's a fun time!

Also, this may be the last game I play this year. Probably not as I'd like to fit one more game in, but if this is it, it ended on a good note at least

All the way back in 2017 on Christmas, I got an SNES classic. I already owned an actual SNES before that, but I figured since they were big that year and it had a buncha game I did not own, a classic would be a fun gift to ask for Christmas. One of the games on there was Mega man X. Before this, I had only played both Mega man 1 and 2 that same year but didn't really enjoy them. So, while I did play a bit of the first stage in X, I didn't really give it much of a chance and quit. Fast forward to 2021, and I decide to actually go back and beat the game. I do so and enjoy it but thought it was just good overall but not great. However, last year I decided to do a classic Mega man marathon which then turned into a Mega man X marathon. I of course wanted to replay X1 before going into the other games, and what do ya know, I ended up loving it. I figured since I played it two years in a row, why not make it a tradition and go for a third year. So, I indeed did fit in one more game this year, and luckily it ended off with a bang.

If I'm gonna be really upfront, the number one reason I love this game is it's OST. It's the difference between giving the game a 7 or 8, it's that damn good. Every single song is a banger, which I can't say for any of the other X games personally. Some of my absolute favorite songs are Sting Chameleon's stage theme, Boomer Kuwanger's stage theme, Spark Mandrill's stage theme, the opening stage theme, the password screen and more. It's all just so masterful, can never get enough of it.

Another reason this one is my favorite is probably the level design. Besides X4 which has some of the best level design in the series too, none of the other X game's I played were as solid in that department, I think. The addition of levels changing based on the player defeating certain Mavericks was very awesome..and the backtracking in this game is way more manageable compared to future games (I'm looking at you X3). Also, I initially did like this more than any classic game and while I still do, a big reason for that is having a dash just makes the X series way more fun I think. This is the one that introduced that mechanic obviously, so I definitely have to praise it for that.

I gotta say as well, the X series on the SNES specifically looks amazing visually. It may have some of my favorite pixel art in any game, it's so visually appealing.

I was originally gonna give this a 10 because I do love this game a lot...but going through it again I did forget how bleh those Sigma stages can be. Apparently in my last playthrough I had no problem with them but this time around, I did notice how shitty they could be. Definitely the worst part of the game and a downgrade from the regular levels but at least the final fight is good.

This was fun to replay as it always is. Maybe the next time I replay it, I'll feel like bumping it up to a 10? Who knows, either way..I'm posting this on New Year's Eve and won't have another review out until after the New Year so I want to wish all my followers and anyone who sees this a very happy New Year. I also want to thank everyone that supported me this year. My account grew an absolutely insane amount these past couple months specifically... and I still just can't believe it! Thank you all so much, I love you guys! I hope everyone that sees this has an amazing 2024, keep on gaming gamers and decrease that backlog!

First review of 2024 baby! What a first game to start the year. I first played this back in 2019 and absolutely loved it. I beat all of the chapters, both A and B sides but never did any of the C sides nor did I get all the strawberries. This playthrough I did tho and man it felt good. Before I get into that let me talk about why this game is so great.

Why don't I just get right into the story first. When I first played, I remember being blown away by the story and absolutely loving it. While I do still think it's good, there was something bothering me throughout and it may just be a me thing. Theo, he's not a bad character but why all the mentions of selfies and his social media 😭. I hate to say it but it was really taking me out of the story at points. It was definitely the biggest issue I had when replaying this. Otherwise though, the Madeline side of the story is really good. I like how anyone that plays this game can at least relate to her need to overcome her personal demons and I think the fact they made it so she accepts them for what they are instead of just trying to bury them completely, I like that execution way more. They portrayed anxiety and depression super well and I think that's the game's strongest aspect when it come's to story.

The soundtrack is pretty solid, tho I remember loving it back then which I wouldn't say I love it now. Don't get me wrong, it's good and there are some standout tracks in certain chapters but I didn't like it as much as I did in 2019 I think. Maybe it was because I was more focused on playing the game and didn't pay attention to the music too much this time around? I also maybe wasn't a fan of the voices they gave the characters. Idk some of the time I found it kinda annoying which is a shame.

As for some of the biggest positives, the game is amazing visually. The pixel art is pretty much perfect the whole way through and the backgrounds in some of these chapters are breathtaking. Golden Ridge I think was the standout especially, it was gorgeous.

Now we come to my favorite part of the game, the gameplay. This is easily one of the most fun 2D platformers I've ever played. It's just so polished and the level design is so good. One of my favorite things was just finding all the secrets, there's a ton of them whether it's hidden strawberries or crystal hearts or B side tapes or even that one hidden indie game screen I somehow found by doing the wavedash (that was insane) they're all really fun to find. I also really love just how many different techniques you can perform. A lot of them aren't explained until late late game or not even at all and they can really break the game sometimes, it's awesome. Celeste is also extremely difficult I'm sure you know. Indeed, some of the later levels in the base game can get super duper hard. The B sides and C sides especially, some of those were nuts. As I said, I did everything in the base game...everything except for the golden strawberries. I got the one in chapter 1 A side but that was it. They just don't feel too worth it since it's not new content...just surviving an entire chapter without dying which isn't too fun imo. As for the hardest part of the base game, that hands down has to go to Chapter 7 Side C. Jesus Christ that last fucking screen took me 3 hours in-game time and exactly 1152 deaths. None of the other chapters came close to that many deaths and you know what, I'm so glad I did it. I'll never do it again mind you, but I told myself that if I did it...I'd bump this game to a 9. So for now that's what I'll do tho I may bump it down to an 8.5 who knows.

I do have some issues that are more a me thing but this game is super fun and definitely a top tier indie in my book.

Oh and as for farewell...yes I'll be doing that next and yes I am very scared. I got up to the point where you're required to wavedash back in 2019 and then quit. I've heard it's extremely brutal in the 2nd half so I'm nervous but I will persevere boys. Wish me luck!